The new iPad Pro (2024) and iPad Air 6 arrived just two weeks ago, which means many people will soon be wondering what to do with their old tablets. Well, some new data has revealed what most iPad owners do in that situation, and surprisingly, the vast majority are sticking to their Apple slates.
A new report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), which tracks the behavior of typical iPad buyers in the twelve months to the end of March 2024, reveals that a whopping 67% of iPad owners kept their old tablet instead. to change it. in.
Within that 67% group, the report found that 31% gave their old iPad to a friend or family member, highlighting the longevity of Apple tablets and their reuse potential. This is also very different from iPhone owners: in the same period, only 11% of iPhone owners gave away their old phones to family or friends.
The other big difference between iPad and iPhone owners is the number of people who trade in their old device when upgrading. For iPad owners, only 6% take advantage of Apple Trade In or other resale sites, compared to 42% of iPhone upgraders.
This suggests that iPad owners are holding on to their devices longer, leaving them with negligible resale value. Or it just shows that you can do more with an old iPad than you can with an iPhone.
While the majority of iPad owners kept their tablet or treated it as used, a significant portion (23%) were also forced to upgrade because their iPad was lost, stolen, or broken. This comes as a slight surprise given that the equivalent figure for iPhone owners is only 6%, but iPads have more screen space for you to accidentally crack or break.
What can you do with an old iPad?
If 67% of iPad owners keep or pass on their old tablet to friends and family, what exactly are they doing with it?
For many, old iPads will simply become travel televisions, gaming devices or e-readers. Or if they are very old models, others can unfortunately become expensive drinks trays. The original iPad Air, for example, may still look relatively modern for a ten-year-old tablet, but Apple stopped supporting it in 2019. It's stuck on iOS 12, which most app developers subsequently stopped supporting.
But if you have a newer iPad, you can do more interesting and creative things with it. One option is to turn your iPad into a digital photo frame, which can be achieved by changing its settings (for example, changing the “Auto Lock” mode to “Never”) and using the Photos app.
If you want to continue using an older iPad, it's important to keep an eye out for important security updates, as Apple still occasionally releases patches for devices that are close to a decade old.
But whether you're shopping for one of the best new iPads or keeping an eye out for second-hand iPad Pro deals, there's certainly plenty you can do with your old tablet. Another popular option is to turn it into a digital recipe book (with added Facetime) for your kitchen.
